Yeah, I know, it's been forever since I updated any of my stories and I feel awful about it enough myself, so please, spare me. Anyway, the stories, neither this one nor the other one, are NOT dead, you just have to be patient with me, as always. Gomen ne.
I hope some of you are still reading and enjoying it. ^_^ You might be happy to hear that the story is almost finished. There should be one more chapter, apart form this one. Is that good or bad news? Oh well, here goes the new chapter.
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Studying – Chapter 6
In the next few days, he worked hard. Really hard. He stayed up at school – Akane had threatened not to help him any more if he'd fall asleep ('Stupid tomboy', he mumbled to himself, not really meaning it of course, while trying hard to understand the lessons) – and he studied with her in the afternoons.
After a third degree from Ukyo and Shampoo during lunch at school a couple of days after the 'challenge', he found out that Kasumi was keeping away any intruders so that he and Akane could work in peace. He managed to avoid most of the girls' questions by running off like the wind.
While he was running home the long way (just in case someone was still on his tail), he thought of Kasumi. Maybe he should thank her, he decided entering the house. She was in the dining-room, setting the table.
"Uhmmm, Kasumi…" he said sheepishly, his hand scratching the back of his head.
"Yes, Ranma?", Kasumi looked up and smiled.
"I just…" he fiddled, looking at the floor, "…thanks."
Kasumi looked mildly surprised for a split second, but then she smiled sweetly.
"You're welcome."
He smiled at her and ran upstairs.
"Ok, now try this one," Akane said pointing at yet another exercise.
Ranma just read the instructions without saying a word. He was so concentrated that he hardly noticed Akane staring strangely at him.
'Five days,' Akane was thinking, almost disbelieving. 'Less than a week and he's…'
"Here. What do you say?", he interrupted her thoughts.
"What? You're done already?" she asked, in awe.
"Uhm, yeah, it was easy," he looked up at her, noticing her strange expression. "Did I get it wrong?"
"Uhmmm…" she mumbled, hardly managing to avert her eyes from him and looking down at the notebook. She struggled to concentrate on what he had written. "No, it's ok. You did everything right."
"Good. So what's next?" he smiled, eager pride shining in his eyes.
She looked up again. He was amazing. Did he really know what he was doing, Akane wondered. Just like that, in a couple of afternoons, he had done it again.
"Akane?"
"Huh?"
"Is everything ok? You look strange." He moved his face closer to her to see her better.
She snapped out of her amazement in time to see his face a couple of inches from her own.
"Akane?", he repeated.
She grinned and suddenly she moved her arms to hug him fiercely.
"You did it! You really did it!", she yelled, too happy to stay calm.
Ranma was stunned to say the least. She was hugging him. She was hugging him. His brain slowed down again, and this time even his body was numbed by her actions. She was holding him. And his arms, instead of hugging her back, were just dangling against his body, pressed down by the force of her embrace. In spite of the smell of her hair, he tried to remain coherent, not letting his brain shut down completely. Something about her words was nagging at him. What was she yelling again? He did it? Did what?
"Oh, Ranma, I'm so proud of you!", she went on, too happy to notice his surprise and lack of co-operation.
He did it…? What was she talking about? They had been looking at his exercise and…
Something clicked in his brain. He … did it? He did it!
"You mean I…?", he asked cautiously, not wanting to be disappointed if he was being wrong. Did he really…?
"Yes! You solved them all. You caught up with everything! You can do it now!"
She was still holding him and almost shouting her happiness directly in his ears.
Her voice complimenting him, her hands around his body, her closeness, her scent, her warmth and her joy overwhelmed him. Overwhelmed all his barriers and slid into him like an avalanche. He couldn't hold still any more. He had to do something. He had to…
Moving his arms around her, he stood up, pulling her up with him. Her hands slid to his neck as he held her tighter.
"Yesssss!" He grinned wildly, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around the room like a child. Her short skirt was flying around her legs, her hands tightly clasped around his neck, her head buried in his hair, soft giggles coming out of her mouth near Ranma's ear.
He held her tight, careful not to make her legs bump into something, basking in her laugher and her scent and her happiness, grinning and repeating "Yes!" on and on. She just held on, giggling.
After a while, he slowly came to a stop. Her feet were on the ground again but neither of them let go of the other; smiles still hung on their faces as Akane lifted her head just enough to look in his eyes.
"Congratulations," she said quietly.
His smile widened.
For a brief moment, he got lost in the memories of the previous days. Nothing had really happened between them but… In a way, everything was different now. The peaceful moments spent together (courtesy of Kasumi's inflexible smile of denial to anyone who tried to disturb them), the occasional glances, the casual contacts of their elbows, or her fingers on his hands, or her body leaning on his while she was trying to show him something difficult… Everything had somehow become so natural, so… expected.
Her smiles had been much more frequent than usually, and her mallet had never appeared during those hot afternoons. Her encouraging words had kept him going when he got stuck. And Kasumi's cookies had eased up their minds whenever the atmosphere became too overwhelming…
That tingling sensation on his skin wherever she touched him had come and gone so often that he had almost got used to it. Now he didn't know if he could live without it.
His eyes focussed back on her features.
"Thanks", he said, a soft look in his eyes. One that she still hadn't quite got used to. One that made her insides feel like a field of butterflies. She felt his arms tighten around her for a moment as he moved his head forward and rubbed his cheek to her hair.
Maybe it was the muffled sound of a giant panda's yawn, or maybe the soft steps in the hall outside Akane's room. Their moment of tenderness was suddenly over and their guards back up. Almost.
When he pulled back again, the mood had changed once again. He felt their muscles tense at the same time.
He looked at her and noticed her pink cheeks and shy eyes. He was sure his face was burning too. He released her and she untangled her arms from his neck, but she didn't move away. For a brief moment he wondered if she would pull out her mallet. Surprisingly, though, she didn't look mad, she was just… He couldn't quite put a finger on it, yet he somehow knew she must feel the same way as he did. Mostly confused. Happy, but confused. And other things he didn't really want to think about right then, too.
Feeling awfully awkward and embarrassed, he thought of something to say. What had they done when they had felt like this in the past days?
"Uhmmm… Do you want to go and get some cookies?" he asked, not looking at her.
She looked up, puzzled.
Then realisation dawned and she smiled.
"Sure."
She gladly turned away from him and went out of the room.
Now that he was alone, he stretched a little, stiff from the hours spent sitting on a chair instead of training. He tried to think of something else than Akane to clear his fogged mind. His body was still tingling all over from the contact with hers. His ears were still filled up with her giggles…
'Better not think about that any more', he thought feeling fuzzy and light-headed. What could he think about instead. Let's see… Training. Yeah, training was good.
He made a face at the thought of his father yelling at him that morning that he was becoming slack and should train more. Well, after the damn physics test was over, he would go back to his old routine and everything would be back to normal and he would show him…
The old routine. Did he really have to go back to his old ways with Akane? Would they both just forget about the intimate feeling that had grown between them in those last days? His shoulders slumped, he sat back on the chair at the desk.
The test was in a few days. Akane said he had caught up. A little more practice and he would be able to get that 90% she had challenged him to get. And then?
Then she would have to tell him what she had promised. He wondered what she was going to tell him. The expression in her eyes, as she said she had just figured something, came back to his mind. What was it that she had figured out? Would he like it? Would she really tell him the truth? She had to! She had promised!
He was starting to get really frustrated when the door opened and Akane came in smiling with the cookies.
He smiled and grabbed one.
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So this was the one but last chapter. Expect the next one really soon, because I'll just go and write it right now. ~_~
Thanks for reading and if you want me to know what you think about this, hit the button and review.
Ja ne!